March 27, 2012

Check out this cool Self-Balancing Robot Build that Kerry Wong shared with us. He has used some very inexpensive parts to get this thing built. To read through the build process have a look at part 1, part 2 and part 3 of the build.

“I used a LPY450AL for the gyroscope and anMMA8453Q for the accelerometer. These two devices are rather inexpensive and the IMU can be built for well under $10.

The toy truck I used for this project has a single motor that drives both of the rear wheels. Since I only need the drive wheels, I cut off the unused front portion. The toy car’s plastic chassis is not rigid enough so I hot-glued a few pieces of plastic and metal support on the back. The extra support is important as excessive vibrations affect the accuracy of the sensor measurements.

Having no personal experience with self-balancing devices (but always secretly wanting to build a Segway-like vehicle ), I have to ask: the batteries at the top have to make the entire device less balanced than if they where at the bottom. Or do they?

I’ve seen it done in several different ways but this device in particular rather exaggerates the top battery placement: it’s not only ontop, it’s also pushed further up on a long stick.

Was this a conscious choice for, say, a large mass further away from the wheel makes the flipping-over more inertial and gives the MCU more time to respond (though I imagine once it’s started, it’s much harder to compensate for)? Or was there a different reason altogether?